p.n. wrote:
The median 30yo American male, as someone said above, probably can cover a mile on foot, but he wouldn't like it. His absolute all-out performance (remember, he couldn't cover a lap--at any running speed--without having to stop and walk) would be somewhere between ten minutes and twenty. Absolutely no way he breaks ten.
Now that I think about it more, he's not going to break twelve. He should crack fifteen with a solid effort, though.
Most LRCers just don't encounter the median American male very often, so some of them come up with *crazy* estimates. It's a class thing.
All of this^^^.
1. Yes, you have to go with the median (not the mean or mode) to get your "average" thirty-year-old American man.
2. I agree that he can cover a mile on foot.
3. That will be a noticeably-long way for him, though.
4. If he attempts to run the whole thing, his time will probably be slower than if he just mostly walks, right from the outset.
5. His best strategy might be to try to jog a straightaway, or maybe half a straightaway, on each 400m lap. That should be short enough that he won't have to slow down his walking on the rest of the lap.
6. With that strategy I think he'd be under 4:00 a lap, but not under 3:00--with the possible exception of *extreme* motivation.
7. So I agree that the time would be somewhere between 12 and 15 minutes.
8. And I agree that most LRCers have *no* clue about the median American man who's 30--none.
9. Yes, it's class. LRCers don't see their privilege, and tend to assume it applies to all.